The Animator’s Survival Kit- 2001

A more recent classic, I haven’t had an animation class in America that didn’t require the purchase of the Animator’s Survival Kit by Richard Williams. When I studied abroad at the Osaka University of Art in Japan it was the only book on animation written in English that they kept in the library. A friend suggested I check it out, leading to my first discovery of the book there in that little section on アニメーション (a-ni-me-sho-n)!

I’ve read the book straight through, but often returned to individual sections of chapters countless times for review. Hardly a week goes by in one of my animation classes when I’m not assigned at least a few pages to read over, but that’s never hardship. Williams’ casual way of relating the invaluable information held within the pages makes for a pleasant and entertaining read. Like Frank & Ollie’s book it holds within its pages a life time of animation experience.

When reading the book straight through the topics seem to naturally flow into one another, but the real benefit comes by just focusing on a few pages at a time. Flipping through the book for the first time can be overwhelming with 342 pages crammed full of images and text all illustrating different principles and concepts, but if you take the time to work through the book in manageable sections you’ll enjoy the reading and learn almost everything you need to know to become a good animator.

Unlike other animation books I’ve read, The Animator’s Survival Kit doesn’t outline assignments or offer any formal step by step instructions, but all the information is there so that if you want to learn by tracing some of Williams’ examples, or doing your own in-betweens on them, it’s easy to practice different techniques. This semester I’ve had several assignments in my 2D animation class which required Williams’ drawings and charts as a starting point. We did a goose sneak cycle based off page 170, and some other exercises on inbetweening following his models.

For your own amusement, here’s my take on the goose, which (*shameless disclaimer to follow*) still needs some more work:

After being inspired by what I read on page 252 about flexibility, I did my own version of a dancing girl, although I focused on the hips and didn’t practice the breaking of joints like Williams. Again, be amused:

If the book doesn’t offer enough Williams goodness for you, he offers a 16 DVD box-set with instruction and companion videos of his examples from the book. Here’s the spiel from the site:

“The Animator's Survival Kit - Animated is about how things move, and specific work methods used to make characters live, breathe, think and give a sustained commanding performance. Williams demonstrates his points with drawing, performance and over 400 specially animated examples - many from his best-selling book.” - http://theanimatorssurvivalkit.com/about.html

Sounds great, but at a current USD price of $985.45, it’s certainly no impulse buy. If the price were a little more affordable I would have jumped at the chance to own the DVDs, but seeing as it’s a serious chunk of money, I haven’t been able to afford it while taking classes. I think if someone wanted to see how far they could get through self-study, it could be a very good option.

For those of us who can’t plunk down almost 1k for the DVDs, we can at least afford the text which can be bought for about $20 new or even cheaper if you shop used. In 2009, Williams put out an expanded edition which I have not had the pleasure of looking over, but I’m sure the added content would also be helpful. The Animator’s Survival Kit is true to its name, it’s a book full of valuable information which will get you through all the principles of animation ensuring you come out of the jungle animating your characters to perfection. Have fun with it, and take the time to work through some of the examples as you read!

If you’d like to learn more about the author, or see some great video clips of his work, check out the Survival Kit website: http://theanimatorssurvivalkit.com/index.html